Lexy Lou suggested an idea from the Amanda Blake Soule’s book “Handmade home”. The fabric was used to make hot water bottle covers as well as rice sacks. I love this idea, especially in the midst of a cold January!

Lexy Lou has won an item of her choice from the Megnificent Made Etsy store!

Pink Floral Camera Wristlet by Megnificent Made

Thanks to everyone for their submissions and keep an eye to the blog as I already have and idea for the next Megnificent Made contest.

I’ve gotten very much over the past few weeks into sewing clothes. It’s not something I have ever really done before but in the weeks since new years I have sewn two skirts, two dresses and a pair of pants. I’m currently in the middle of making aprons for my mom and I. I will be posting those soon!

I am a firm believer that if you hand make your clothes it should cost less than buying them ready made. Unfortunately this is not usually the case! I find that patterns are quite expensive and once you add in the price of fabric and notions you’re well over retail clothing stores. The best bet is to never…ever…ever ever…pay full price for a pattern. If you’re lucky you get a great deal on beautiful fabric as well and then you have not only something you’re proud to say you made yourself but also you’ve saved money by DIY economics.

I have scoured the internet for free patterns and for some reason I find a lot of of them are in languages other than English. As much as I am getting a hold of making clothes, I still think the wording of an English pattern is even somewhat difficult to translate. I won’t be attempting to Babel fish a pattern anytime soon.

For those of you into fashion design and sewing, I have to say one of my favorite new blogs is the Selfish Seamstress. Not only is she a talented seamstress and a bit of a fashion designer herself, She is a very clever writer and a joy to read. I have downloaded all of her patterns and have already made her “Coffee Date Dress” twice. She has generously offered her pattern for download at BurdaStyle as well as on her download’s page on her blog.

Coffee Date Dress by Selfish Seamstress

BurdaStyle is kind enough to offer a few patterns for free on their website which I have downloaded now just in case they decide to take them away from us cheap sewers.

Free patterns are hard to come by, and many require adjustments to your size or a translator. All of which add a fair bit of work to an already involved undertaking.

Which is why I am pointing out the INCREDIBLE discovery I had when I happened into JoAnn Fabrics today. All simplicity patterns were only 99 cents! I picked up around 20 patterns which should keep me happy for a good long while and significantly beef up my wardrobe.

Misses Dress with Jacket-Cynthia Rowley Collection

Simplicity has a lot of my favorite patterns and at a discount from $16 to $0.99 this really can’t be beat. This Cynthia Rowley dress and jacket will be one of my first to sew for sure. If you have tomorrow’s holiday off, I suggest you go shopping!

Simplicity also features the Project Runway Pattern Collection. These patterns are especially great because they allow you to mix and match trims, hems, tops and bottoms to make a lot of really beautiful outfits from just one pattern kit.

And so, now that I have pitched JoAnn for their obviously wonderful sale. I’ll get back to sewing so I have something to show all of you.

If you have any thoughts on great ways to make sewing fashions a more affordable treat please share!

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland will be in theatres March 5th and all of the promotion for this 3D movie has me inspired. I can’t wait to see the effects in action.

I do have to point out one thing that bothers me a bit though. Don’t get me wrong, I love Johnny Depp and no one mixes better with Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter but…

All I see here is Elijah Wood!

Aside from that, I can’t wait to see it and I’ve no doubt it will be fantastic. On with the show! Here are some Alice in Wonderland inspired Etsy finds.

Alice in Wonderland Set by Cartbeforethehorse

Cartbeforethehorse makes some really beautiful fine folk art dolls hand made with hand painted muslin with a patina leather feel. This Alice in Wonderland set is numbered and signed by the artists and is a limited edition. The pieces are also available as separates in her store. She has some other really beautiful designs and I suggest you look into her etsy store!

Whimsical Mad Hatter Tea Party Chandelier by whimsicalcollections

WOW. Have you ever seen anything as wonderful as this? I would love a chandelier like this. I wonder if it would be difficult to make with a tin tea set? I’m not an electrician though so I had better not try it. Whimsicalcollectoins is the expert and they’ve done a wonderful job with this fantastic big of decor!

Tea Time Silhouette Recycled Vinyl Necklace by RandomPerfect

This necklace by RandomPerfect is doubly cool because aside from the great design…its made from recycled records! She has a lot of really great silhouette designs in her etsy store but I particularly like the use of the two different chains on this little tea party necklace.

I am taking a break from my post-christmas-present-posts to solicit your help on a project that has stumped me.

It has been nearly a year since my Grandpa died. He was a really wonderful person and greatly missed by all of us. My aunt salvaged some of his clothing to make a beautiful quilt for my grandmother. It’s a beautiful piece that has a lot of meaning and comfort for her.

When my aunt came to visit at Thanksgiving she brought some of my grandpa’s old shirts and thought I could make something out of them. I’ve been thinking on it long and hard and can’t decide what keepsake to sew out of these shirts!

They are both cotton, button down, short sleeve shirts size XL.

So here’s the deal! Post your keepsake sewing ideas involving one or both of my grandpa’s shirts in the comments of this post. I’ll give it about two weeks before making a selection!

The winning idea-supplier will get to select any item from the Megnificent Made Etsy store as their prize!

That includes camera wristlets…

Pink Floral Camera Wristlet by Megnificent Made

Custom Coloring Books…

Vespa In Paris Custom Coloring Book by Megnificent Made

Or writing and drawing fabric notebooks!

Sketches in Blue Fabric Book by Megnificent Made

So start exercising your creative brains and send some keepsake ideas this way! Any questions feel free to ask. I’ll give about two weeks (more if necessary) to see some posting!

Note: Subscribe to my RSS feed on the right to help you follow my blog and find out the winner!